Attack Theatre Updates WWI's 'The Soldier's Tale'

Kanny, Mark, Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Most fables date back to vague antiquity, but "The Soldier's
Tale" was created during World War I, which makes it a relatively
modern story.

Composer Igor Stravinsky and novelist Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz
wrote it in 1915 in Switzerland. Cut off from their sources of
income, they created a little theater piece for a few actors and a
handful of musicians that could tour from town to town to earn a
little money. As often is the case, external limitations spurred the
creative fires.

"The music is unbelievable. When you put it with the acting, the
dancing and the narration, it's a kind of perfect symmetry of many
different art forms coming together. It's Stravinsky at his best,
and could compare with his best ballets as a perfect work of art,"
trumpeter Neal Berntsen says.

Attack Theatre and an ensemble of musicians from the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra (including Berntsen) will present Stravinsky's
"The Soldier's Tale" on Wednesday at Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip
District.

The story line follows a soldier on two weeks leave as he
repeatedly is tricked by the devil, initially into trading his
violin for a magic book. In the second part, the soldier tricks the
devil, wins a princess and seems to escape the devil's power.

Attack Theatre has been performing "The Soldier's Tale" at
various venues for a decade, often with Pittsburgh Symphony
musicians. The 2005 performances were at Heinz Hall, Downtown, as
part of the Pittsburgh Symphony subscription series. …

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